Schools reopen in north Mali town after years of conflict

KIDAL, Mali, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of children
returned to school in a town in northern Mali this week, a sign
that security may be returning after years of conflict involving
rival armed groups and Islamist militants.

But some school reopenings were postponed due to
anti-government protests and the main teachers' union says its
members will not return without army protection.

In one school, students took their places on wooden benches
and recited the days of the week in French, ignoring the large
bullet holes that had riddled the walls during past shooting.

"It has been about three years that there's been no work and
no school. After three years, I'm really happy that everyone,
the children, the younger kids, are going back to school," said
Aghaly Ag Ousmane, a student.

Kidal, a desert town of earth-built homes, is a stronghold
of the separatist Coordination of Azawad Movements, a group
dominated by ethnic Tuaregs. In 2012, they seized the north with
support from militants linked to al Qaeda.

Nationalist and French forces recaptured the area in 2013
and the United Nations has established a peacekeeping mission.
But separatists control Kidal and violence in the region has
persisted with attacks by militia groups and radical Islamists.

The schools reopened as two rival Tuareg clans ended a
decades-old feud last week and the government said it would
commit $175 million a year between 2016 and 2018 to supporting a
peace agreement it signed in June with the separatists.

"After the difficulties experienced with running a school
due to the conflicts, we are all grateful for the initiatives
taken to encourage the return to school," said parent Tita Ag
Bacrene.

Three schools in Kidal have reopened so far including one
with 647 students.

"We still have more than 10 schools in the north which are
occupied (by armed groups)," said Mali representative Fran
Equiza for U.N. children's agency UNICEF, which has donated some
equipment. "We can't say for certain than in 3-4 months all will
be open."

He added that he hoped the return of teachers and school
administrators to Kidal would encourage other national
authorities to return to their posts.

France and other OECD countries will host a conference on
peace and development in northern Mali on Oct. 22 in Paris.
(Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Dakar; Writing by
Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Richard Balmforth)